Q: What is the collaboration between the University of Illinois at Chicago and Deerfield Management?

A: University of Illinois at Chicago is collaborating with Deerfield, an investment firm dedicated to advancing healthcare, to accelerate the translation of research in University of Illinois at Chicago faculty laboratories into clinical therapeutics. West Loop is a Deerfield company that will support University of Illinois at Chicago 's innovative translational research and leverage Deerfield’s expertise in accelerating state-of-the-art drug development.

West Loop will fund projects with the aim of establishing novel therapeutics to cure life-altering diseases.

Through West Loop, Deerfield has committed up to $65 million in initial funding to support promising University of Illinois at Chicago translational research. Deerfield will provide operational support and may make additional capital investments into spin-off companies that emerge from University of Illinois at Chicago projects and show commercial potential.

Q: Who is eligible to apply?

A: Principal Investigators whose full-time employer is University of Illinois at Chicago or who have a faculty appointment at University of Illinois at Chicago and are subject to University of Illinois at Chicago ’s policies regarding the conduct of research and ownership of intellectual property.

Q: How can I apply?

A: To submit an application, please visit the Request for Proposal (RFP) page on the West Loop website.

Q: How many calls for proposal are there in a year?

A: There are two calls for proposals each year.

Q: Does West Loop have a therapeutic area of interest?

A: No – We welcome applications from all therapeutic areas.

Additional FAQs are available once eligible applicants have registered through the submission portal.